Experience with a simple high-performance liquid chromatography method for the analysis of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and bases in biological fluids.

Purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and bases were analysed using an isocratic reverse-phase HPLC technique and utilising simple sample preparation. The method has been successfully used to separate a large number of biologically occurring nucleic acid products within a 30-minute period and to identify them by their chromatographic and optical properties. A number of metabolic disorders have been identified, including hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase and ornithine carbamyl transferase deficiencies. The method has been in routine use for 2 years performing both quantitative and qualitative analysis and has proved to be robust and reliable.